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| Korea Tourism Organization CEO Byun Choo-suk, second from left, poses with boy band JYJ at the organization's building in Seoul after appointing them as publicity ambassadors for Visit Medical Korea, a website on the nation's medical tourism industry, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization |
Visit Medical Korea to offer info on clinics, treatments
By Kim Rahn
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has opened a website to provide fast and accurate information about the nation's medical industry to foreign visitors.
Officials at the organization said the platform, named Visit Medical Korea, will be a plus for medical tourism.
"Medical tourism is a new growth engine with huge potential," KTO CEO Byun Choo-suk said in a launch ceremony at the organization building in Seoul.
"Online marketing is an important tool to provide consumers with correct information rapidly. Visit Medical Korea will be helpful to not only consumers but also the medical and tourism industry."
The website (www.visitmedicalkorea.com) offers comprehensive information about hospitals, medical services, agencies and travel, which had been scattered on websites of regional medical tourism associations and district offices.
Visitors can see information on various types of medical treatment including cosmetic surgery and medical skin care, health screening, traditional Korean medicine, ophthalmology and otolaryngology and high-tech surgery.
Other sections include the introduction of hospitals and medical agencies, examples of medical tourism and reviews on hospital services, and package programs combining medical treatment and trips.
Clinics can open their own "microsites" on the website, to provide more detailed information about themselves.
Visit Medical Korea will also provide an interactive marketing tool, as a one-on-one online counseling service is available. If consumers leave questions about medical services they want, they will get an answer within 48 hours.
The KTO aims to have a real-time counseling service and payment system if possible.
"The three things medical tourists want to know are: what medical services hospitals offer, how long it takes to get the treatment and recover, and how much the services cost," Kim Se-mann, executive director at the KTO's medical tourism department, said.
"Consumers can see the three things on the platform and select the services and programs most suitable to them," he said.
Kim said many small-sized hospitals in provinces have superior medical skills but have not attracted foreign patients as they did not know how to market themselves overseas. "Visit Medical Korea can be an effective marketing tool for them."
The system is now available in English, Chinese and Japanese, while Russian services will open in November. Arabic, Mongolian and Vietnamese services will become available in the first half of next year.
Special events are ongoing to celebrate the system. Hospitals offer checkup and other medical programs with up to a 50-percent discount. Those registering membership with the platform and leaving messages on it will get a chance to win a lottery, with prizes being flight tickets, hotel accommodation, and free medical checkups.
K-pop boy band JYJ was named as the promotion ambassador for Visit Medical Korea.
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